Ladysmith Black Mambazo win another Grammy
The Grammy was the fourth won by Ladysmith Black Mambazo and their 17th nomination.
Ladysmith Black Mambazo were joint Grammy winners with the Gipsy Kings at this year’s Grammy Awards which were held in Los Angeles on Sunday. Both these bands are long-time favourites at the Grammys. They shared the award for ‘Best World Music Album’.
Ladysmith Black Mambazo’s style of music is rhythmic acapella, or to use its true isiZulu name Isicathamiya (traditional music of South Africa’s black mine workers). The band shared the Grammy for their live album Singing for Peace Around the World.
The singing group dedicated the work to late anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela and promised to donate proceeds of the album purchased on the band’s website to the former president’s charity, the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund.
The Grammy was the fourth won by Ladysmith Black Mambazo and their 17th nomination.
The group were propelled to stardom in 1986 when they collaborated on Paul Simon’s groundbreaking Grammy-winning album Graceland and joined the US songwriter’s ensuing tour.
The win is a bitter-sweet moment for the group, following 72-year-old Joseph Shabalala’s announcement last week that he is retiring from live performances.
